What's New

Parent's Resource Guide

A new, updated, more portable version of the guide is now available to order, for free, to those who qualify. Downloadable versions can be found below. A Parent’s Guide to Raising Healthy, Happy Children is available from DSHS, as per HB 1240 enacted by the 81st Legislative Session. The resource guide provides information relating to the development, health, and safety of a child from birth to five. This developmental resource guide is only available free of charge to prenatal care providers, including hospitals, birthing centers, physicians, nurse midwives, and midwives, who provide prenatal care or deliver an infant of a pregnant woman enrolled in Medicaid. The resource guide should only be distributed by providers to Medicaid-enrolled women receiving the above mentioned services, the father of the infant, or another adult caregiver.

The resource is available for ordering through Best Press at www.ebestpress.com. Orders must be placed in a bulk amount to exceed 100 in order to receive the guides free of charge and orders may be placed for up to a one-year supply. To ensure prompt processing of your order, please include in the additional information box, “For HB 1240.”

Information for Parents of Newborns

During the 2011 legislative session, an amendment was made requiring the addition of pertussis information to the Information for Parents of Newborns pamphlet distributed by providers. DSHS has added the required pertussis information to the pamphlet. The related bill text, HB3336, can be located here.

Resources for Child Care Providers

Online Training Modules

Looking for free training?! Texas Agrilife offers FREE online courses on a variety of topics ranging from safe sleep to nutrition to breastfeeding. While the courses are targeted for child care professionals, they are relevant for all types of caregivers – parents, teachers, health care professionals. If you are looking for continuing education credit, certificates can be printed at the completion of the course for a small fee. Some courses are multilingual - available in Spanish and Vietnamese.

Food, Fun and Games: Healthy Activities for Children in Child Care

In child care, teaching opportunities abound! This new booklet is targeted to child care facilities and provides examples of low to no-cost activities that incorporate the concept of nutrition and physical activity into daily routines.

The booklet is available to order in English through the Texas Department of State Health Services' Literature and Inquiry and Order Entry site by calling the HHS Warehouse at (512) 250-7116 for assistance.

For questions or comments about the fact sheet, please contact us at 512-776-2021, or email titlev@dshs.state.tx.us

Healthy and Safe Child Care poster

A safe child care environment is crucial to reducing the risk of unintentional injuries to infants and children. This new poster has been developed for child care providers to address the top injury risks to children in child care facilities.

The poster is double-sided and bilingual (English and Spanish). Orders can be placed through the Texas Department of State Health Services' Literature and Inquiry and Order Entry by calling the HHS Warehouse at (512) 250-7116 for assistance.

Safe Sleep For Babies

The Department of State Health Services and the Department of Family & Protective Services have partnered to provide parents and health care professionals with a “Safe Sleep Checklist” and public service announcement. The checklist is downloadable and can be printed out for any parent who wants to check their baby’s sleep environment for safety. Providers may also want to provide this checklist to new parents, expecting parents or keep copies in their waiting room.

Creating a safe sleep environment by placing infants on their backs to sleep reduces the chance of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). This new fact sheet has been developed in collaboration with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, to increase awareness and educate caregivers on Safe Sleep.

The Department of State Health Services and the Department of Family & Protective Services have partnered to develop a tool for talking with parents, grandparents and caregivers about the best practices for safe infant sleep. This tool is a training manual designed to be used by service providers of all types. The manual is formatted in a train-the-trainer style with frequently asked questions, tips about presenting information to parents and caregivers and parent handouts. Topics covered include myths and facts about safe sleep, crib safety and how to talk with grandparents, day cares and babysitters about safe sleep. Anyone providing services to parents and caregivers are encouraged to use these materials in conjunction with local resources (such as crib distribution, fan distribution or breastfeeding support). Materials may be used in a workshop or classroom type setting or portions may be taken for use in an office or home visit as needed.

The Texas Infant Sleep Study (TISS) is a population-based sample survey that is representative of mothers of infants 2 through 11 months of age who were born in Texas. It was developed to provide baseline data on infant sleep practices, including sleep position, sleep surface, and bed-sharing. This fact sheet has been developed as a result of the survey, to inform providers, caretakers, and agencies working with families about current infant sleep practices.

You can get the fact sheet in .pdf format by downloading it from here:

Umbilical Cord Blood Banking and Donation Brochure

During the 2007 regular legislative session, legislators passed HB 709 which requires that a physician or other person permitted by law to attend a pregnant woman during gestation or at delivery of an infant shall provide the woman with the brochure before the third trimester of the woman’s pregnancy or as soon as reasonably feasible.

Participating Cord Blood Hospitals and Banks

CHIP Perinatal Information

Title V and CHIP Perinatal

Title V prenatal contractors may provide prenatal care and bill Title V for a maximum of the first two prenatal care visits for women who are in the process of applying for and enrolling in the CHIP Perinatal Program application process. See Section III, Chapter 1 - Reimbursement for additional guidance on billing Title V for the initial prenatal visits. http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/mch/fee/pubs/FY10 Policy Manual Title V MCH FEE.pdf

Children's health insurance helps keep kids growing

Texas families with uninsured children may be eligible for health insurance through Children's Medicaid and CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program). For more information and to apply, visit the CHIP Website.

PRAMS

The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) is a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sponsored initiative to reduce infant mortality and low birth weight births. PRAMS is an on-going state specific population based surveillance system designed to identify and monitor selected maternal experiences before, during and after pregnancy.

Texas is one of forty-one states (and New York City) in the U.S. participating in the PRAMS. Many states have used PRAMS findings to increase understanding of maternal behaviors and experiences and their relationship with adverse pregnancy outcomes. These data can be used to develop and assess programs and policies designed to reduce adverse pregnancy outcomes and improve the health of babies and mothers. Texas PRAMS conducts surveys by mail and telephone of mothers who are residents of Texas who have recently given birth. The Texas PRAMS Databook presents findings on key survey questions on the following topics: Insurance (prenatal care and delivery), nutrition and folic acid awareness, prenatal care, communication with health care providers (on topics such as seat belt use, smoking, alcohol, breastfeeding, HIV testing), smoking, alcohol use, abuse before and during pregnancy, infant health, infant sleeping position, postpartum depression, pregnancy intendedness, and contraceptive use.

Texas PRAMS data are available for years 2002 through 2011. If you have any questions, or would like to request PRAMS data or share comments about the Texas PRAMS website and how we might improve it, please contact the PRAMS Coordinator at the email address or phone number listed below.

Also, please notify the PRAMS Coordinator on how you use our data (e.g. Presentations, funding applications, program planning or evaluation).

Raise Awareness of National Suicide Prevention

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a national, 24-hour, and toll-free suicide prevention service available to all those in suicidal crisis who are seeking help. Individuals seeking help can dial 1-800-273-TALK (8255). They will be routed to the closest possible provider of mental health and suicide prevention services.

The network is comprised of over 100 individual crisis centers across the country creating a nationwide coverage area. It is administered through the Mental Health Association of New York City, an organization with experience in crisis, information, and referral hotline management.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline grant is one component of the National Suicide Prevention Initiative (NSPI), a multiproject effort to reduce suicide led by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Center for Mental Health Services.

These brochures can now be either downloaded from the Parents of Newborn Children webpage in English or Spanish or ordered from the HHS Warehouse at (512) 250-7116. The stock numbers are: #1-316, English and #1-316a, Spanish.

This information can also be found on page 1-60 of the Policy Manual.

For more information about the Office of Title V and Family Heailth, or information regarding maternal and child health in Texas, please email titlev@dshs.state.tx.us